Increasingly medical computer devices, such as electronically enabled drug delivery devices, are configured to record usage data that relates to the usage of the device. In the example where the medical computer device is a drug delivery device, the usage data may include the: administered dosage regimen, for example, the delivered quantity of a medicament; the associated delivery history; the adherence to a predetermined dosage regimen. An example of such a drug delivery device is provided in WO 2005/077441, WO 2006/085175, WO 2006/085204 and WO 2007/088444, the products pertaining to which are offered by Merck Serono S. A under the RebiSmart™ and Easypod™ trademarks. In an alternate example a drug delivery device may comprise a communications interface for communication with an intermediate medical computer device whereon the usage parameters can be transferred and recorded.
It is desirable to supply the recorded usage data to a server system, such that the data can be permanently recorded on a database of the server system and subsequently analysed by a health care professional if necessary. One such way of supplying the recorded data is to configure the above drug delivery device to be dockable, for data transfer, with a connection station that is in communication with the server system, wherein data exchange between the drug delivery device and server system occurs via the connection station. It is advantageous to provide a connection station with such functionality as opposed to incorporating the functionality in the drug delivery device for reasons of approval by governing bodies in various jurisdictions, for example, the federal food and drug agency (FDA) in the US. Notably, drug delivery device incorporating new functionally may take several years to receive approval, whereas a connection station that works with an approved drug delivery device does not require such approval.
When using a connection station the drug delivery device is docked with the connection station and thereafter and actuator may be depressed to effect initiation of a connection and a subsequent data session between the connection station and server system.
A drawback with such operation of the connection station is that a user may forget to depress the actuator, and thus the medical device is docked with the connection station without the required data session. Moreover, the user may find it difficult to depress the actuator. The aforementioned may be exacerbated by certain medical conditions, such as Multiple Sclerosis, the conditions of which can manifest as visual, motor, and sensory problems as well as cognitive problems.
A further drawback is that, for convenience of use, it is desirable to provide a docking interface between the medical computer device and connection station which operates in a substantially vertical direction. However, with such an arrangement, the docking interface of the connection station is exposed and can thus become contaminated with debris and dust.
A further drawback is that the process of docking the medical computer device with the connection station and the subsequent depression of the actuator and initiation of the connection to the server system delays start-up of the data session.
In certain conventional medical computer devices, a user interface is provided in the form of a display means for display of the medical data and a user input device comprising selection keys for operation of the medical device. To analyse the medical data, a patient using the device takes the device to a health care professional (HCP) who, using the user interface, selects and views the medical data.
Thereafter, the HCP may manually enter the data into a remote server system wherein it is stored for future analysis. A drawback with this system is that the HPC may incorrectly enter some of the medical data into the server system. Moreover, the process of transporting the medical computer device to the HCP for analysis of the medical data is burdensome on the patient as is entry of the medical data into the server system by the HCP.